The present invention relates to systems for storing and making available gas bottles.
In known systems the gas bottles are usually stored vertically. It has however been proposed that they should be stored horizontally in systems where they are dispensed by gravity or in lockers or on moving belts. These types of system are space-hungry, unreliable, tend to break down and are in practice unsuitable for small or medium-size bottles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system of simple, robust, modular and versatile configuration, that is of low manufacturing and cost price and is suitable for a large number of uses.
For this purpose the invention provides a system for storing and making available gas bottles, comprising at least one cabinet that has a front face and comprises at least one pair of front-opening compartments connected to selective access-control means, each compartment consisting of a generally half-cylindrical gutter part and an access part whose profile converges toward the gutter part.
Other more specific features of the invention are as follows:
each compartment is fitted with a door with a bolt
at least the access part, and typically also at least part of the door, are made of plastic or a non-magnetic material
each compartment is equipped with a detector for detecting the presence of a bottle and/or for reading information carried by the bottle.